If you’re a blogger, and you’re not using Twitter, you really should. It really has the potential to drive a lot of traffic to your site!
Darren Rowse of Problogger.net in a post on his blog talked about how people are only beginning to realize the potential for twitter.com driving traffic to their sites:
get on Twitter because it’s a pretty hot spot at the moment when it comes on online activity and I think the potential to drive a lot of traffic from there is still only just being realized. It’s a space that is still in it’s early days of development so get in early (even though it’s been a year or two since it launched) and position yourself for the future.
I agree with what he’s saying and through my own personal experience I know that Twitter can be one of the better traffic generators out there. I’ve seen it with my other site, Bible Money Matters. So without further ado, here is my list of 8 ways you can use Twitter to promote your blog or other online business:
- Promote your blog content: I use “Twitterfeed” to take the RSS feed of my blog(s) and have it send a quick post and link to my most recent post. You need to be careful about doing this, however. If you start sending too many blog posts every day, people will just start to think you’re a “spammer”. Moderation is key.
- Network with other bloggers and business people: I’ve met so many other wonderful bloggers through twitter. They’ve helped me to grow my online presence, and have given me a ton of good advice about what I was doing right, and what I was doing wrong. Don’t underestimate the power of your extended twitter network!
- Find blog topics!: Coming up against writer’s block? Not feeling inspired? Ask your Twitter followers what to write about. They’ll give you a good idea! Even better, just find what others in your niche are twittering about, or find what the trending topics on twitter are. Blog about that!
- Research and feedback: Trying to figure out what the most popular finance softwares are? Ask your followers! Want to know what Twitter client to use? Find out what others are using!
- Use it as a mini-blog: There are times when I want to share something with my readers, but it isn’t long enough for a blog post. Instead of blogging it, I micro-blog it on twitter. Things like quotes, breaking news, tips etc.
- Find new readers: Connect with other tweeters – and often times they’ll subscribe to your blog. It’s a great way to find new readers for your blog – just chatting with people!
- Use it to link to favorite articles: Sometimes I’ll link to an article from my archive, or link to another blogger’s article. So, I either send readers to my own site, or help out other bloggers. Often they return the favor and link to your articles!
- Request social media linking: If i have an article that I want to get traction, I’ll send it out to my twitter followers and ask them to submit it to their favorite social media hubs like Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Stumbleupon, etc. It’s often a very powerful way to get a rush of traffic to your blog!
These are just a few of the ways that I’m using Twitter as a part of my social media blog strategy. The more I do these things, the more strategies I learn!
What are some ways you’re using Twitter to promote your blog, business or other online presence?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Great tips! I didn’t realize the power of Twitter at first. Now, it’s really growing and getting some amazing media exposure. Got a bunch of traffic from it too!
Twitter seems to be all a-buzz in the online community (aka bloggers), but I rarely hear how it’s being used for offline businesses. Small businesses are finding ways to use most social media to grow their business, but Twitter success stories are much harder to come by. I think this is the last obstacle that is preventing Twitter from making the leap to mainstream media relevance. Thoughts?
Now that I think about it, most of the success stories I’ve seen have been for online type business, not necessarily big bricks and mortar type businesses. I have seen some using twitter to promote hot deals, coupons, etc – but most could probably do better. Those big dinosaurs just move so slowly!
I don’t know yet, I’m trying, but I’m already in touch with my friends on Face Book and that works great… Twitter seems very commercial. I’m going to keep looking into it, but I don’t want to be solicited.